A Cheshire man found guilty of causing the death of his wife in a car crash through careless driving has been handed a suspended prison sentence. Paul Bark, 43, of The Crofts, Farndon, was found guilty following a three-day trial held at Chester Crown Court of the offence, which happened on the B5130 near Farndon at 12.15pm on May 11, 2022.
Pauline Collings (married name Bark), 37, who grew up in Ellesmere Port, was killed instantly in the collision between the yellow Citroen DS3 DSport she was the front-seat passenger in, and a grey Citroen Berlingo van. Both Bark, the driver of the yellow car, and van driver Mark Hughes were also seriously injured. The trial heard eyewitnesses giving evidence to say Bark had driven the car into the opposite side of the road while travelling at 60mph, leaving Mr Hughes with no opportunity to avoid the head-on collision.
At the sentencing hearing on Monday, June 10, those affected by the fatal collision fought back tears as they read out moving victim personal statements in court. Tricia Collings read out statements on behalf of herself and three sisters Miranda, Amanda and Tracy, on how they and their family had been devastated by the loss of their 'beautiful angel' sister Pauline. Pauline Collings (married name Bark) sadly died in the collision.
The sisters had said they could not believe their "true angel" had been taken away from them at such a young age and had found it difficult to grieve. Mr Hughes said the collision had left him with .